Earl Evans | The CEO Magazine

Earl Evans has just returned from Dallas when he sits down to discuss the next chapter of Shaw and Partners Financial Services, the leading Australian and New Zealand investment and wealth management firm. His visit lasted little more than a day – land, attend meetings and fly straight back to Sydney.

While it’s a schedule that would exhaust most people, for Evans – who’s spent almost four decades in financial services – it comes with the territory.

Markets are always moving somewhere in the world and therefore, so is he. Between leading a national wealth management firm, enjoying family time and pursuing interests in motorsport, surf lifesaving and philanthropy, his days are exceptionally full.

Yet Evans doesn’t utter a single word of resentment about his heaving schedule – quite the opposite, in fact.

“I eat, breathe and sleep Shaw and Partners. I love it, and I love the financial services industry,” he tells The CEO Magazine.

“Thirty-five years in and I’m still as passionate today as I was when I first started as a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed kid at 25.”

From Co-CEO to sole CEO

His passion has become especially important since the retirement of his longtime Co-CEO Allan Zion in 2024. For almost a decade the two worked side by side, combining Evans’ front-office instincts with Zion’s command of operational matters.

Today, Evans leads the firm as sole CEO. On paper, it represents a considerable leadership transition. In practice, though, he sees it as a continuation of what the pair built together.

“Not much has changed really except now instead of there being two co-CEOs, there’s just one,” he says. “I’m probably busier than I’ve ever been, but it’s been a great challenge for me.”

The transition also hasn’t meant leaving the previous chapter entirely behind. Zion remains on the board and the two continue to speak every day.

“Allan wasn’t only my business partner; he’s like a brother to me,” Evans says. “He was already on the Board, and I asked him to remain on it. Thankfully, he agreed, and I’m so grateful for that.

“He’s been a great guiding hand and a trustworthy sounding board, which is awesome.”

A labor of love

Evans admits that he’s never approached his career as a carefully mapped progression toward the CEO’s office. Instead, he describes himself as a builder and grower who followed opportunities as they arose.

“I’ve always loved people,” he says. “I try to live a life with integrity, values and principles. It’s not always easy, and I’ve made mistakes. But you learn from them and make sure you don’t repeat them.”

He believes when people continue learning, work hard and contribute to those around them, opportunities tend to follow.

“The harder you work, the luckier you get,” Evans says. “To me, that seems too simplistic, but it tends to be pretty accurate.”

Evans certainly works hard. Transitioning to sole CEO, he says, has doubled his responsibilities – without adding any more hours to the day. Yet, he doesn’t view his role as a grind.

“I come to work, and it’s not work for me. It’s like an interest,” he insists. “I am genuinely interested in it.

“The industry is a seven-days-a-week, 24/7 thing, which is what I love. Markets are alive everywhere in the world – they don’t stop and start. So for me, it’s a true labor of love. I really enjoy it.”

More than money

His passion stems from a belief that financial advice is about stewardship, not simply a commercial service. It’s not lost on him that clients are entrusting the firm with money they have spent years, and often decades, earning.

“It’s a real privilege to manage people’s money,” Evans says. “It’s a genuine honor for people to entrust us to look after the money they’ve worked so hard for.”

The responsibility has only become greater as the firm has expanded. Shaw and Partners has broadened its footprint, expanded its leadership team and strengthened its trans-Tasman presence. Today, it manages approximately A$50 billion (US$35 billion) in assets, with a team of 500 employees across 14 locations in Australia and New Zealand.

The firm’s advice, investment and asset management capabilities have also become more sophisticated, with its evolution including the continued development of the Shaw and Partners Asset Management business, deeper organizational capability and ongoing investment in governance, technology and the client experience.

But Evans is wary of equating maturity with bureaucracy. For him, the challenge isn’t merely to build a bigger business. Rather, it’s to develop greater scale and capability without sacrificing speed, personality, independent thinking and the culture it prides itself on.

Growth without compromise

Evans believes preserving that culture starts with the people who bring it to life.

“They’re experienced, highly ethical, principled and incredibly knowledgeable,” he says.

“We have some of the best advisers in the country – among the best I’ve worked with anywhere in the world.”

When advisers manage money well, he explains, referrals and new assets tend to follow. Yet capability is only one part of the equation. Shaw and Partners has also worked deliberately to create what Evans describes as a “very happy home”.

The firm operates through a flat structure. That means nobody, including Evans, has a private office. Employees work in open environments intended to remove barriers between people, roles and levels of seniority.

Shaw and Partners also regularly recognizes birthdays, anniversaries, fundraising achievements, sporting events, capital raisings and other significant milestones. Its office walls are decorated with photographs of sponsored teams, philanthropic initiatives and company celebrations.

Evans says these details help to create a sense of identity and belonging, especially as the firm becomes larger and more geographically dispersed.

“As businesses grow, they have a tendency to lose their authenticity and who they are,” he says. “Communication can also become clunky and quite scripted.

“But here, we speak our mind openly and honestly. And if our people have suggestions, then we want to hear about them. We’ve built a very trusting environment.”

Leading with trust

Not at all interested in relying on rigid performance targets, the firm entrusts divisional leaders to operate like CEOs of their own businesses. This gives them freedom to build distinct identities beneath the broader Shaw and Partners brand.

“If each person does their part really well, we believe the rest takes care of itself and we’ll naturally grow,” Evans says.

Of course, this autonomy doesn’t mean operating without accountability. Evans believes everyone in the business, regardless of their position, shares responsibility for the client experience and the firm’s reputation.

“Whether you are making the coffee, in IT or are an adviser or in legal, it doesn’t matter – we all have a role to play,” he insists. “We’re all custodians of the business.”

The same philosophy shapes how the leadership team views its own responsibilities. Internally, management sees employees and advisers as its clients, so their primary focus is to help them grow, perform at their best and build rewarding careers.

By investing in its people, Evans believes exceptional client outcomes follow naturally.

“Our job is to look after them to the best of our absolute ability and do whatever we need to do to service them with cutting-edge technology, global thinking, honesty and with the utmost integrity,” he says.

Strength across borders

Shaw and Partners’ ability to combine independence with international scale has become one of its most important points of difference.

The firm has been backed by Swiss private banking group EFG International for approximately eight years now. And Evans describes the relationship as an ideal fit – one that gives them access to global expertise, research, infrastructure and investment capability without imposing an overseas identity on the Australian business.

Giorgio Pradelli, CEO of EFG International and Evans

“They let us be who we want to be,” Evans confirms. “And they want to do whatever they can to support us.

“This arrangement gives us the independence to run the business in Australia, for Australians in an Australian regulatory environment.”

At the same time, advisers and clients gain access to the capabilities of an international organization managing hundreds of billions in assets around the world.

As investing has become increasingly global, this combination has grown even more valuable. Evans believes Australian wealth businesses can no longer afford to approach advice or investment strategy through a purely domestic lens.

“If you’re not providing a global offering, then you are miles behind where you should be,” he insists.

Technology that empowers

AI and other technologies are only accelerating this shift. To keep pace, Shaw and Partners is integrating AI across its advice, research and operational platforms to improve efficiency, enhance client outcomes and free advisers to focus on higher-value conversations.

“We’re not looking to improve efficiency by reducing head count,” Evans confirms. “If anything, we’re going to increase head count. We’re really looking for technologies that allow us all to do our jobs better.”

The company is also willing to revisit long-standing systems and assumptions as new technologies and ideas emerge.

“Nothing is set in stone,” he says. “If we need to break something open, make it better and start again, then we will. Nothing is sacred here in the sense that if there’s a better way of doing things, then we’re going to do that.”

From left: Jourdan Evans (son), Katie Evans (wife), Earl Evans and Alessandra Evans (daughter)

New employees are invited to share best practices from their previous organizations that Shaw and Partners could adopt – as well as practices they should avoid.

“Some of the best things that we’ve done in the business have all been staff driven,” he says.

Built to endure

The same values that shape the firm’s culture also guide how it expands, with the firm’s latest A$90 million (US$63.5 million) acquisition in New Zealand offering a clear picture of its measured approach to growth.

Shaw and Partners was not even looking for an acquisition when Evans met the owners of the New Zealand business. He also wasn’t prepared to proceed based on financial metrics alone.

Instead, the two organizations spent approximately a year simply getting to know each other.

“We agreed straight away on value and price and all of those things,” he says. “But the time we spent getting to know each other led to us feeling comfortable enough to go, ‘Hey, can we actually live together?’

“It was a bit like dating, right? We’re not going to get married in the first week. So we just got to know each other, and it felt right. And it’s been really, really good.

“In fact, to me, I don’t look at it as an acquisition. I look at it as a true partnership.”

The existing leadership team continues to run the New Zealand business day to day, he explains. Shaw and Partners has invested in its newest head office while supporting additional bolt-on acquisitions.

And it’s also rebranded the business while allowing its local leaders to retain considerable autonomy.

“We allow them to run it how they want to run it,” Evans says plainly.

Purpose beyond performance

For all the business milestones Shaw and Partners has achieved, Evans describes the firm’s philanthropic foundation as one of the greatest sources of fulfillment in his career.

The Shaw and Partner Foundation’s structure is designed to ensure philanthropy is embedded throughout the firm, allowing employees to help decide where funds are allocated based on causes that matter to them. In the past 11 years, Shaw and Partners has donated more than A$17 million (US$12 million) to charity, with a goal to get to A$20 million (US$14 million) in the next two years.

“It’s driven by all of the staff, not by me self-servingly as a CEO,” Evans says.

Evans is Co-Owner of Red Bull Ampol Racing and Triple Eight Race Engineering

Through its matching model, employees raise funds for causes and the foundation contributes the same amount. It also awards larger grants, although those decisions continue to be influenced by employees and their community involvement.

Evans explains that the foundation supports initiatives, ranging from homelessness services and women’s shelters to cancer research, hospitals, orphanages and clean water projects. It is particularly interested in smaller, underfunded organizations that are delivering meaningful community outcomes without access to significant capital.

Employees are also given paid time away from work to volunteer in their communities, contributing thousands of hours of service each year.

Evans believes this participation has strengthened Shaw and Partners internally as much as it has benefited those receiving support.

“Philanthropy is really the foundation of our business,” he says. “It’s embedded a wonderful culture and has been part of our fabric now for 12 years.

“The number one thing that’s been the most fulfilling to me has been starting the Shaw and Partners Foundation and seeing it grow and evolve.”

A privilege of a lifetime

As Shaw and Partners looks ahead, Evans expects the business to continue growing, though not through expansion for its own sake.

He describes it as “more of the same, but differently”. In other words, with the same energy, passion and client focus paired with constant change and improvement.

And while the firm may not necessarily enter more locations, Evans anticipates managing more assets, serving more clients, improving technology and continuing to invest in employee satisfaction and capability. Its growth, he insists, will remain a consequence of excellence.

Evans no longer needs to measure his career by financial reward. He continues because the company, the people and the industry remain central to his life.

“I don’t come to work every day for the money,” he says. “I come to work every day because I love the industry, the people I work with and I love Shaw and Partners.

“I genuinely feel it’s a privilege that I get to do this with my life.”